allen bradley and entering text on a hmi

have a question. Have a project i just finished with a micrologix 1400 and a Control Techniquie (red lion) hmi and controlled temperature through the plc.
Now looking at something i want to try. In my HMI programs i have a menu screen for the operator to enter values for timers, motor speed, etc... I am looking at creating a menu as a test where a operator would select a item on the menu screen and a keypad pop up and then instead of entering a numeric value which is how i have done my menus over the year i am wondering is it possible to bring up the keypad and instead of the numeric value enter text such as STYLE 1 and then when you press enter in the plc program do a compare to see if the value is equal to the STYLE 1 and if so then put the correct values for that style into the registers for the timers, motor speeds, cycle counts etc.. is this possible?
thanks.

Instead of remembering that how about a recipe number? A simple integer. That can be used to load various values into the running registers.

Yes, a string can be entered, then a search function started ending with a 'match' or 'no match'.

But how many times would you expect a frustrated operator to enter a name when they keep getting just one character wrong. It takes fewer presses to enter a number than a name.

See if the HMI has any type of list operator.

I actually have a Crimson 3 / MicroLogix 1400 application that does something similar.

There is a list of 50 three-letter product codes, each of which has three data elements associated with it (speed, power, color,)

The product codes are selected from a selection list.

When you enter a new product code, all the codes are sorted alphabetically and the list is re-displayed.

There is no search function in the list, just up/down arrows and page up/page down arrows.

I don't have a lot of time to clean it up to post, but I can find some time next week or send it directly.

thanks for info.
Ken if you post it or email would be great. Not something that i have to get done quickly but something i am looking into doing. In the past what i did was create a menu page and on that page would be items such as timer values, cycle counts, pressure values (autoclave temperature) and the operator would select each of those and then enter the value through the display. Doing that on this project that i just finished where i am controller heat by pulsing the solid state relays to maintain the setpoint. The operator just selects the field for temp 1, temp 2, mold time etc. and enters it but looking down at road and the operator will have a work order and the stype number will be on the order and they want to possibly be able to type in that style number or name and press enter and those fields then be automatically filled with the values. i will send my email in a private message if you can email it.
Also, i like the idea of just entering a number to represent the style name and think it is better but they want to actually type in the stype name. I see that being a issue and think just entering a number to represent a style would be simplier but have to let them not type it in correctly and get frustrated to prove to them it is better.

just another thougth on this. has anyone tried to use a red lion or emerson (red lion) hmi unit and access data on a server that could be pulled into the proper registers in a plc such as a allen bradley 1400? Would that require some type of custom visual basic type program. Just wondering. Thanks

Ken Roach said:

I actually have a Crimson 3 / MicroLogix 1400 application that does something similar.

There is a list of 50 three-letter product codes, each of which has three data elements associated with it (speed, power, color,)

The product codes are selected from a selection list.

When you enter a new product code, all the codes are sorted alphabetically and the list is re-displayed.

There is no search function in the list, just up/down arrows and page up/page down arrows.

I don't have a lot of time to clean it up to post, but I can find some time next week or send it directly.

Click to expand...

Ken
I know its been about a year since this came up but since then got really involved in building some automatic lamination machines but now looking at this again. Is there anyway you might consider sending the sample program? Would be great. Thanks

I think the concept you might be looking for here is a list object with editable names.

I believe I posted an example here or at MrPLC of a list object to replicate what is a pre-made object in PanelBuilder32 using Crimson 3.0.

I don't know if I made the string names editable or not. But the idea is to use an array for a list, and then use indirect addressing on the display objects along with a position pointer.

So the list is like:
ListAName[p]
ListAName[p + 1]
ListAName[p + 2]
ListAName[p+ 3]

and so forth, using some adjacent buttons to bump pointer 'p' up and down (hint: think ramp buttons) .

Let the operator pick the "recipe name" from the list, no need to type and search, since you can sort it alphabetically, and have page bump buttons easily find what you are looking for among hundreds of entries.

Separately, have a secured screen with edit event logging for the right personnel to have access to the recipe parameters including editing of the names. Usually, you want to make someone else own management of the recipes (production, quality dept.).

I favor not storing strings in the Micrologix, just a correlating reference (recipe index) number. Communicating strings to/from the HMI is inefficient.